While struggling under the burden of a massive financial crisis, huge debt, nearly 15 percent unemployment, and a population migrating out at a rate not yet seen since the famine, the city of Dublin still holds onto a little bit of life. And that life is growing into an artistic revolution and rising culture that gives tourists a reason to visit.

Not so long ago, Dublin was the poster child of Europe, a fringe city that underwent a spectacular transformation from the capital of a country The Economist once dubbed "the poorest of the rich," to the center of Ireland’s booming Celtic Tiger economy.

The city's success was often attributed to a swelling property bubble, a low corporate tax rate, inward tech investment, and a highly educated population. But if this was Dublin at the top of its game, it didn’t last long. In 2008, not without warning, a global and national financial crisis hit hard. It was back to square one.

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